Make Up Your Mind
by cloverblob
Summary: Shelby's an emotional coward. It's why she left Rachel, why she lacks friends, why she's self-destructive and why she runs away the moment a connection is made. St. Corcoran pairing. Rachel is featured heavily.
1. Make Up Your Mind

**Author's note: I'm currently writing up another story that I've adopted, and that will go up soon. In the meantime, I had this idea for a St. Corcoran story floating around in my head. I'm not sure about it though so, if anyone has any ideas, I'm so open for them! Enjoy =) Oh, and yes, the title is inspired by Next To Normal. So sue me and my theatre nerd-iness.**

Make Up Your Mind

_Make up your mind, this is clarity_

_Clarity that you did not have before_

Shelby Corcoran walked briskly down the hall; a stern, very annoyed look on her face. She couldn't believe that had just happened. Of all the biggest possible mistakes, of her self-destructive choices, this should not have been one of them. Her black heels hit the linoleum floor with more force than normal. Finally reaching a door, her name plastered on the front, she rustled around in her purse for the keys to open it.

Down the hall from where she had arrived, a young man was rushing after, calling her name.

Shelby ignored him as she finally found the small keys and their attached chain. Triumphantly, she shoved it into the keyhole and turned. Just as she was about to push the door open, a hand grasped her forearm and she glowered.

"Don't just run away. We need to talk," Jesse said pleadingly.

"Let go of my arm," Shelby replied, a grave tone to her voice.

"You cannot pretend that didn't just happen!"

"My imagination can do whatever the hell it wants."

"Your imagination needs to get with the program, because we just kissed and that's not something we're just about to forget."

Shelby struggled against his grip, still trying to open her office door. "Goddammit, Jesse! Let go of me!" And he did. Knowing not to argue against that tone.

She finally opened it and tried to rush inside before he could follow but to no avail and he slipped in quickly before she could do or say anything to the contrary. With an exasperated sigh, she moved towards her desk and sat down. Not actually having any reason to have come in here besides hide from the barely legal teenage boy, Shelby pretended to look in the drawers of her mahogany desk for some non-existant object. Just hoping he would disappear or spontaneously combust.

Instead, he stood in front of her, arms akimbo. Jesse was nothing if not resilient.

After a few moments of silence, praying he had left; Shelby raised her head from 'looking through the drawer's and peered back above the desk slowly. No luck as her green eyes met his blue ones and a smirk spread across his thin lips.

Sighing loudly, she gave up, "What do you want?"

"To talk."

"You know, I think I'm coming down with something," she said gravely, then pretended to cough a little. "I think I should save my voice just in case."

Jesse narrowed his eyes. "Stop avoiding. You _always_ avoid."

"Yeah, my mom says the exact same thing. What do you think it means? I put my bet on childhood trauma; that's always a winner."

"Shelby!"

She stared back at him unphased.

"We kissed. Romantically. That's a big freaking deal!"

"I see it this way. My last talk with Rachel left me emotionally distraught. I felt like a puppy who just had her bone taken away. And you decided to console me, and then..." She paused for dramatic effect, "you took advantage of me."

Jesse, jaw slack, stared at her in disbelief. He had done nothing of the sort and she knew it. "And now you're shifting the blame. You can't keep running away from your problems."

"Honey, right now, my only problem is you. Oh, and I forgot to TiVo Desperate Housewives tonight. Damn. Well, I guess I better rush home and do that," she said with an affirmative nod and stood up. Shelby picked up her bag, propped it onto her shoulder and headed towards the door she had entered just a few minutes ago.

But he stopped her dead.

Jesse had grabbed either side of her upper arms, holding her to directly facing him. She looked ready to kill. "I'm not going to te-" He stopped her mid-sentence, pulled her in and captured her lips with his.

"What the hell is your problem?" she exclaimed, pushing him forcefully away from her and he stumbled backward.

"Don't tell me you didn't feel something."

"Get off your high fucking horse, kiddo," she told him, eyes full of fire-driven anger. "You are half,_ more than_ halfmy age."

"So...?"

"So? SO? Are you insane?"

"No, I'm not."

"I'm trying to get over deciding to practically abandon my daughter, and you want to throw this crap on me?"

"I just-"

"Well, you have another thing coming! Because I will-"

"Shelby-"

"-not stand for this! I know that you think that-"

"Shelby-"

"-you are God's gift to women. Well, newsflash! Not this woman, mister!"

"Shelby, will you shut up for one second?"

She stopped her rant, breathing heavily.

"Okay, thank you," he said gratefully. "I'm not trying to pull one over on you. I'm going to go home now, and tomorrow if you want to forget any of this happened then fine. But stop denying everything you feel about yourself, your life, Rachel, even me. Grow up and face your emotions like everyone else."

He let go of his grip on her arms, turned around and left, shutting the door quietly behind him. Jesse knew how patronizing he sounded, and also knew how much she hated that, but someone needed to knock some sense into her. And there weren't too many people around to do that for her.

Shelby stood stunned for a few seconds, staring at the spot he had been moments ago. With a sudden pang of exhaustion flowing through her, Shelby moved back behind her desk and plopped down onto the cushioned chair.

Fuck. He was right. She felt something.

**Author's note: So? How is it? Please review! I'm not sure if I'll continue or leave it. Depends on your comments and my muse 3 If I do continue, there will probably be a heavy Shelby/Rachel storyline. I enjoy the mother/daughter dynamic quite a bit.**


	2. I Am The One

**Author's note: My muse went crazy this morning and I had the whole chapter planned out within minutes. Figured I might as well post. The story at the moment takes place just hours after Jesse eggs Rachel. I'm definitely continuing this story, I have so many ideas for it filling up my brain and stopping me from doing homework... **

I Am The One

_I just thought you should know_

_I am the one who knows you_

_I am the one who cares_

_I am the one whose always been there_

Shelby glanced at the clock. She could have sworn it was later than that. Surely she'd been sitting in her office blankly for more than half an hour. Although, stress always seemed to make time feel a little wonky. At least she was finally home and could pop out a tub of ice cream, crash on the couch and maybe watch an amalgamated series of Streisand movies.

She'd quickly changed into a loose pair of yoga pants and an old NYU -tshirt. There was no need to wear a pant suit for a wallowing session. Comfortable now, she made her way to the kitchen for the calorie induces ice cream.

Just as she had opened the freezer door her cell phone went off, making a faint buzzing noise. In the silence of her apartment, the soft vibrations were very distinct and could be heard clearly from the living room. She rushed to the coffee table where she had placed it upon coming in. It was part of her routine of coming home from work; heels off at the door, jacket on the rack, phone on the table, purse on the floor beside the couch.

Shelby picked up the phone, hit the talk button and answered professionally, "Shelby Corcoran."

"Hi, mom."

Immediately recognizing the voice coming through the ear piece, Shelby let out the tiniest, involuntary sigh of exasperation at the title. "Rachel," the name felt wrong coming from her mouth. As undeserved as having the girl call her mom. "Look, I thought we were clear on this. The other day- that was our goodbye. And, you know, that kind of means you can't-"

Rachel cut her mother, who was stumbling with her words, off. "I know. But I really need to talk to you."

A short pause. She let herself fall to the sofa, head leaning against the back lazily. She didn't want to lie, but Rachel couldn't keep doing this. "I'm sorry, honey. I'm busy."

"You don't look busy."

"Wait, w- what?" Shelby's head shot up and she looked around the room wildly, half-expecting to find the girl leaning over the couch beside her. Instead, she spotted Rachel peering in only slightly off to the side of the window. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second before Rachel vanished, scurrying away.

_Well, that's what you get for living on the first floor._ "Rachel... I just..."

"No, it's okay. I get it," she said unconvincingly, a loud sniffle added for effect. "I'll just walk all the way back home and it's getting really cold, but it's okay."

Shelby sighed at the act, pushed herself off the sofa and went towards the door. Opening it, she could see Rachel's tiny figure walking very, _very_ slowly away, her head drooped in defeat with shoes dragging along the pavement.

Unable to resist Rachel's obvious plea for her attention, Shelby pushed the off button on her phone and called out to her. "Rachel, you can come in." And in the most fluid of motions, the teenager's head snapped up with the widest grin spread across her face as she turned on her heel and headed inside, her mother closing the door behind her.

Though Rachel had never been here before (not that Shelby knew of anyway. If so, she had one very creepy child. Or at least one with severe boundary issues), she quickly made herself at home; taking her shoes off at the front mat, placing her coat on the side rack, entering the living room and sitting down center sofa.

Shelby, though, stood in the adjoining doorway, a weak smile displayed on her face. Rachel only looked back up at her with that wide-eyed grin. Realizing she would have to start, Shelby moved further into the room so that she was standing directly across the coffee table from her daughter, looking down at her. "I really thought we came to the conclusion and that you understood that we'd, you know, keep our distance. And that means you would have to not-"

"I know," Rachel cut off again. God, people really didn't like it when Shelby finished a sentence, did they? "But I stayed up all night thinking about it. I drank an unmitigated amount of water from the cup you gave me and I came to the conclusion that I'm not okay with that. You're my mom. You're the only one I'm ever going to have so I can't just let go. Clearly, you have some emotional hindrances that we'll have to work on but I'm confident we can get through it. So I'm here to bond with you."

"Sweetie," she searched for the right words but they never seemed to come when Rachel was around. "I- I just- I can't-"

"No!" Rachel exclaimed, interrupting her again. "You can! All you have to is try. And you don't have a choice! I want you to sit down beside me and help me do my homework and if you don't, I'll just sit here and cry all night until you do." She shut her eyes tightly then reopened them, newly formed tears springing at the edges.

_It's your fault, you know._ A voice chimed in Shelby's head. _She gets the crazy from you._

Staring at the girl who was forcing herself to cry upon her sofa, Shelby gave in. There were no possible words she could come up with that didn't sound like the worst thing in the world. So, she awkwardly walked around the coffee table and sat down beside her daughter.

Clearly quite proud of herself, Rachel straightened up then reached into her bag, which Shelby hadn't even realized she had brought, and pulled out a pink notebook with gold stars plastered along the front cover. Shelby had a very strange flashback of herself twenty three years prior holding a very similar binder. Rachel opened it up on the space between both womens' thighs.

"So I had some difficulty with these calculus problems."

"Oh. Uhm, yeah... math's not really my strongest suit," she said gingerly, eyebrows crinkled in a spot of shame. "I failed eleventh grade data management."

"Oh," Rachel frowned. "Well, that's okay. I've never been very good at it either. I find all those numbers and laws and rules and theorems to be both confusing and daunting. I guess that' just another thing that we have in common."

Shelby's expression turned a bit distraught. Here was Rachel trying so hard to make that connection and there was Shelby sitting like an idiot, scared that the connection would in fact be made, just praying for a way out before it all would eventually get shot to hell.

"What about English?"

"That. That I can do."

"Excellent! Here," she handed her mother a four page essay perfectly typed, her full name boldly printed on the cover, another gold star sticker stuck on the end. "This is my paper on Wuthering Heights. I assume you've read it. It's an American classic."

"Yeah, I've read it," she replied, already opening it and looking through the first paragraph.

"You can edit it and tell me what you think!" Shelby continued reading, though it already seemed rather perfect. She was surely not the first person to have looked it over.

The phone rang, the house phone this time, as she flipped the page. But Shelby ignored it and kept reading. It rung two more times, and Rachel looked downright annoyed.

"Are you going to answer that?"

Shelby looked up. "No," she replied nonchalantly.

"Why not? What if it's important?"

"Well, you see, last time I picked up the phone, I got unexpected company and I think one guest is enough for tonight."

Rachel looked like Shelby had just killed her dog. And at that look, Shelby felt the exact same way. She was usually so much more articulate than this.

"Oh no- no, honey, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant- I'm really not a-" But the girl had already gone to pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Shelby, it's Jesse. Could I come over and we can discuss-"

"No, you jerk! Stay away!" Rachel yelled into the phone and slammed it back down on the receiver.

Where Rachel looked both hurt and proud of herself, Shelby had her mouth open, gaping; confused.

"That was Jesse," she said, as thought that would explain everything. It didn't. Although, thinking about it, that would have been Shelby's same response to the boy and it really didn't matter it if actually came from her mouth or not.

"Oh right! You won't believe what he did to me earlier today!" Rachel said, and Shelby could already tell that the gears in her brain were working to find the perfect way to tell her mother the entire story.

_Funny,_ Shelby thought._ I could say the exact same thing._

But before Rachel could explain what it was exactly that he had done, there was a rattling of keys as the front door was opened and Jesse stormed in. Like Rachel, he must have already been standing outside making sure she couldn't actually deny him entrance. Although, she figured since almost every time someone called and asked her if they could come over, she denied. Most people who knew her must have learned to just show up anyway. Not that there were many people who asked at all.

"I don't care if you want me to stay away, because I think that I'm in lo-" Jesse's eyes widened, his confession slowing down as he spotted Rachel standing in the middle of the room. "-ve... with a boy in my gym glass." He blurted out, just trying to think of something, _anything_, that wasn't the truth. So let Rachel think he was gay. That might actually be able to work out better in his favour.

"What is he doing here?" Rachel turned toward her mother in outrage, as though Shelby might actually have an answer or that it was her fault in some way. Still, she had given him a key and she was mentally slapping herself for that now.

"You pick tonight of all nights to actually have company over? _Tonight?_"Jesse too, turned towards the older woman, trying his damnedest to speak over Rachel, his voice just a little louder than hers.

They both waited for her response, but before any words could escape her open mouth, another voice entered.

"Shelby?" Will Schuester's figure appeared in the doorway, "Uhh, I heard yelling and the door was open..." He trailed off, eying both Jesse and Rachel, trying to figure out what was going on. All eyes turned to him. Shelby looked about ready to die. What was _he_ doing here? They made out once, he gives her advice once and he thinks he can just come waltzing in here? She opened her mouth again to speak, and was just about to scream when there was another swinging sound of her door opening.

"Shelby Sophia Corcoran! I could hear this racket all the way from the parking lot, what could you possibly be doing-?" Taking in the sight of three new people in her daughter's home, Raquel Corcoran widened her eyes in pleasant surprise. "You have company!" She said joyously, marveling at the thought that her practically recluse child was having an actual, real social interaction.

Shelby seemed to have sunk down further into her seat as each new occupant had come in. She now held two fingers to her forehead, the plague of a migraine threatening to take hold.

All four guests started to speak at once, but Shelby jumped up to stop them.

"No! What does this place look like to you people? This is _not _The Department Store of Shelby! I am not open for business! All I wanted was to watch some crappy soap operas and drown myself in ice cream for the night! Is that really too fucking ('Language, Shelby!') much to ask? Is it?"

"But-"

"NO!" Shelby threw her hands up to silence the protests and remarks at her current juvenile behaviour. "No! No! No! No! No! No! No!" She continued her chant of 'no's as she made her way to the kitchen and slammed the door behind her; adding a final, very loud, "NO!" through the wooden door.

Shelby got a spoon from the utensil drawer, the ice cream tub from the freezer, pulled out a chair, sat down and started to eat her ice cream.

**Author's note: I promise to explain why every person showed up at Shelby's! They actually have reasons xD Please review! I love to hear what you think and ideas are always welcome! Oh, and can you spot the Idina reference in this chapter?  
**


	3. There's A World

**Author's note: Ewww, this took almost two weeks. I've had so much homework and work and meh. But now I have time to work on fanfics, which really should take priority, right? This is short though and really doesn't do much, sorry! Next chapter will be better, and have some cute St. Corcoran, promise! But thanks for the amazing reviews guys! You make me smile. But yes, the reference was 'Strongest Suit' from Aida. And Idina's version is great :D Of course, I'm a 'loyal' fangirl, so... bias. **

**I really did always think it was kind of out of character for Rachel to just be like 'she doesn't want me D:' and then give up, come on mannn, that girl would hunt Shelby down and force her to love her. Also, stupid storyline: "HAI RACHEL, I'm your momma. Wassup? LOL, JK, BAI!" *walks over* "HAI BETH, I'm your momma. LMAO, Okay, everyone, G2G, TTYL." ... no really, that's how it plays in my head, and also very comedic. Someone should make a comic out of that. If I could draw, I so would. I'm done with my rambling rant now! Enjoy the story, people!**

There's A World

_There's a world, there's a world I know_

_A place we can go, where the pain will go away_

Shelby could only hear silence through the door. Good. Then realized someone might be coming in to follow her. Picking up the chair, she leaned it up against the doorknob and sunk down against the wooden interior of the kitchen door, ice cream in hand.

Someone tried turning the knob, pushing harshly against it with their side. "Shelby, open up!"

"Everyone just go away!"

"If you don't come out here on the count of three; One... two..."

"Mom, I'm almost forty, that's not going to work!"

On the other side of the door, Rachel had a place on the couch, glaring at Jesse, just daring him to come closer. He didn't. Instead, the young man stood off to the side, suddenly very interested in a potted plant beside the mantle and trying his best to stay away from the rest of the little group.

"Can any of you tell me why my daughter is freaking out?"

Shelby frowned and a muffled response came through the door, "I'm not freaking out!" Rachel had a similar look on her face, mouth curled downwards.

"I'm just a... friend. I came here to discuss what _he_ did to _her,"_ Will gestured from boy to girl with small inclinations of his head, an unintelligible look crowding his laugh lines.

"What did he do?" the older woman asked curiously, knowing of her daughter's unorthodox student-mentor relationship with the boy.

"I really don't think that's the most pressing issue at the moment," Jesse interceded.

"Well that really depends on what-"

"He threw eggs at her," Will said, a sliver of a glare aimed towards Jesse.

"He did what?" Came Shelby's voice again, unable to pretend she wasn't listening to every word they said.

"If you come out, I'll tell you all about it."

There was no answer, but Jesse could already tell he was going to be in for it. Shelby was certainly not one to forgive and forget quite so easily. She could hold a grudge for years, stubborn like a post she was. Jesse looked rather pissed now, "Thanks a lot, Schuester." He said, obviously irritated.

"You were-"

"Wait, who are you people-"

"You're welcome, I was-"

Jesse, Raquel and Will all started to talk at once again, their words overlapping to make the entire conversation completely unintelligible. Yet, Rachel who was still sitting on the couch was uncharacteristically quiet through their outbursts of noise. Unable to handle the volume of all them talking at once and her having no say, she spoke(well, yelled) up. "What is wrong with everybody? You're all so selfish and ruining my bonding time with my mom!" She sat back on the sofa, hands plopped down at her sides tiredly.

"You're-... huh...?" The noise stopped as everyone shut up and turned towards Raquel, watching her unexpected reaction at the news. Not that it was news to anyone but her. A few moments passed as she stared at the young woman on the couch, the obviousness of the truth smacking her in face. She should have noticed, the likeness was uncanny. Raquel herself, was blonde with light eyes, as unlike her eldest daughter in almost every way, she'd assumed Shelby's children (if she were able to have any) would have been the same, completely unlike her. This was certainly a surprise. It should not have been one at all. "Shelby..." She said, the name drawn out in a threatening fashion. And immediately the door opened.

"Mom, please don't take this personally or freak out or, or, or-" Shelby begged hastily, standing directly in front of her mother with pleading eyes, a little lost for words.

"You didn't tell your mother?" Rachel asked, hurt.

Shelby looked over at Rachel, crinkled forehead. "I-i-it's complicated."

"You didn't tell me?" Her mother mimicked, a much more terrifying tone.

"I'm feeling very claustrophobic right now," Shelby said desperately, her hands shaking in a fanning motion.

"Oh, you are not getting out of this just because you've got some people over, Missy. How old is she?"

Shelby opened her mouth, but Rachel piped up, "Fifteen."

"Fifteen years? You didn't think to tell me anything for fifteen years?"

"No...?" Shelby answered meekly. She wasn't sure what it was about having her mother around, no matter what age, that made her feel like she was ten years old all over again being scolded and probably slapped for doing something she shouldn't have done.

Now standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by four people with whom she had very different relationships, Shelby felt exposed. Mostly because her clothes weren't her standard work or even going-out clothing. She wasn't professional-Shelby or kind-of-friendly-social-Shelby or even I'm-going-out-to-get-laid-tonight-Shelby, she was just Shelby. That was horrifying.

"How could you not tell her I existed?" Rachel asked, looking up at both women with those big puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry...?" Shelby replied, fishing for the right thing to say to make things better.

"Clearly, I've intruded. I'm going to go. Shelby, I'll call you." Will said quietly, scared of stirring anything up or getting involved in something. He touched her shoulder briefly, gesturing he was heading out the door and left.

They all seemed to stop and watch him leave. Then, Shelby looked towards Jesse, almost waiting for him to follow suit. He gave her an apprehensive look and laughed shortly. "I'm not going. I _need _ to talk to you." She kept a steady glare in his direction. "Okay, fine, I'm going to wait right outside. _Right_ outside." He said, heading out the door as Will had just moments before.

Shelby kept her eyes trained on him until he had truly left, though the other two were already watching her, waiting for some explanations.

"Look, Ma, I didn't say anything because I was scared of what you would say."

"You're ashamed of me?"

"No, Rachel, I don't even know you! It's not about _you_. It's just..." Shelby sat down on the couch, ready to tell her mother everything. And she did. The year after college where they'd only spoken twice on the phone, the Thanksgiving a year later where Shelby had cried in her arms all night for what had seemed like absolutely no apparent reason; all of it was explained.

"Why couldn't you tell me?"

"It's been my biggest secret for so long, I... I just... I don't know." Shelby told her mother defeatedly, face buried in her hand.

"I don't know what I've done that you wouldn't trust me to-"

"What? No, that's not it at all. You're handling this all wrong!"

"Then tell me how to handle it! When you found out you couldn't have any more kids, I held you, I was there, you should have at least told me then. I'm your _mother_, you've lied to me for fifteen years."

"You can't have any more kids?" Rachel interrupted. She'd been sitting quietly off to the side, listening intently. She found comfort in the sound of her mother's voice throughout the story, chalked it up to natural instincts but the sudden raise in volume from the older women had made her shrink down. "Is that the only reason you came to find me?"

"No!" Shelby answered adamantly, and then the confidence fell, "Not the _only_ reason."

"Why did you really change your mind, then? Is it because I'm not good enough?"

"God! No!" Shelby stood up abruptly, shaking her head, eyes shutting tightly as she brought her hands up to rub them and opening again. "I can't handle this right now!" With deep breaths, she took a glance back at them, and headed towards the door. For some inexplicable reason, she could feel tears forming beneath her eyelids and she sucked in air to stop them from falling.

Not sure where to go, Shelby sat down in the dew-ridden grass, barefoot and exhaled, unable to stop herself from crying now. She felt a prescence move beside her and a warm arm wrapped around her shoulders and she buried her head in Jesse's chest.

**Author's note: Mwahaha. Not really a cliffhanger, I don't think I could ever stop at a cliffhanger and not keep going... but yeah. Please leave a comment or review! Constructive criticism and suggestions or requests will also be greatly appreciated!**


	4. Perfect For You

**Author's Note: No, you're not dreaming. This is a new chapter. Back by an interesting amount of demand! After quite a long hiatus, I got some muse back for this and I know I have two other stories (but they're both two or three chapters away from completion), but I know not to waste motivation when you've got it in the moment. I have quite a few chapters planned out already, get ready for some MAJOR drama. So, here you go, faithful readers. **

**Perfect For You**

_Perfect for you, I'll make myself perfect for you_

_You square all the corners, I'll straighten the curves_

_And even if everything else turns to dirt_

_We'll be the one thing in this world that won't hurt_

The two sat there for a moment, in the damp grass; Shelby's head buried softly against his chest. Down her face streamed silent tears. She was never much of a crier, but in moments of high frustration, she just excused herself, absolutely refusing to shed tears in public. For a while, Jesse gently simply sat there, gently holding her against him, softly rubbing her back in consolation.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly as the frequency of her hitched breaths subsided. She felt absolutely silly crying into his arms, but she hadn't been close to any single person in a long time; and though she must not have realized it, she seemed to have gained quite the amount of comfort in this young man's presence.

"There's a long list of things that are wrong. And I have no idea where to start."

"Well, that's what you have me for."

"Really? You're quite possibly the biggest problem I have."

"The biggest?"

"Yes, the biggest," she concluded, looking up at him. Regardless of her comment, he grinned down at her. "But you're my favourite problem," she conceded.

Exponentially, his smile grew. "That's all I ask."

Shelby made a pout at this, putting her hand to his cheek and playfully pushing him away; an action to which he over-exaggerated, dodging then falling backwards onto the grass, grabbing her hands and taking her down with him.

Falling atop him, Shelby stared him down grumpily. For a moment, he seemed scared of her glare, but then burst out in a fit of laughter. Biting upon her bottom lip, Shelby tried her best to not reciprocate the laughter, but couldn't stop the smirk that appeared at the corners of her lips.

"Better?" Jesse asked, once having caught his breath.

Shelby glanced back at him for a moment and her smile turned somber. "No." In utter sympathy, he cupped her face with the palm of his hand and stroked her cheek.

"Hey," he said softly. "It'll be okay. You, your mom, Rachel; it'll be okay." She watched him, shaking her head. He couldn't know if _anything_ was going to be okay. But he was still Jesse, and wouldn't accept that from her. So he leaned into her slowly but surely, and pressed his lips to hers. At first, she fell into the kiss-it was so unexpected to her-then she pushed him away harshly.

"Will you stop kissing me?"

"What? But I- you, we-" he blubbered, eyebrows creasing.

"But what? My crying was not an invitation for you to mack on me!"

"You were giving me the look!"

"The look?"

"Yeah, the look. You know-" he made a smouldering gaze at her, "like that."

"My face did not look anything like that," she said in disbelief, sitting up on the grass.

"You're a tease," he muttered under his breath, crossing him arms as he uncrossed his own legs, bringing his knees up.

Catching the comment, Shelby glared at him. "A tease? You are eighteen!"

"Age doesn't matter when you truly care about someone."

"Are you serious right now?" she said, then swallowed, looking away, her eyes wide in utter disbelief.

"Deadly serious. I really think that I-"

"Oh God, just shut up!"

"Stop expressing what I feel? I don't think I can do that, you're simply-"

"Stop talking!"

"Stop freaking out," he said, trying his best to not return her almost manic screech at him.

"I am not... freaking out," she said, calming her voice twenty decibels mid-sentence. "Jesse, you are dating my daughter."

"Not anymore... especially not after today."

"The eggs," Shelby stated, realizing she was supposed to be very angry about this but he'd distracted her with an entirely new thing to be angry about.

"It wasn't my idea exactly," he said, wringing his hands guiltily.

"So, that was your way of what? Showing how much you care. She's my _daughter_, Jesse."

"I'm sorry," he said shortly, quietly; as though a submissive attitude would suddenly make her forgive him. He didn't know what he was thinking as he did it, he was angry, felt completely betrayed by the fact Rachel had feelings for that monstrous oaf of a boy.

"Of course. _Now_ you are," she said, skepticism etched upon her face.

"Shelby..." he began, looking at her from behind his lashes, but she stopped him before he could say anymore.

Shelby held her hand up to quiet him. Finally in complete control of her tear ducts, she breathed in heavily, sniffling rather loud. "Don't think I'm not going to punish you and everyone involved, but I have more pressing matters at this precise moment," she stated. She tilted her head to the side, trying to pick out the words to start her next sentence. "Just before you came, Rachel... tried... to _bond_ with me."

"How horrifying."

Shelby slapped him on his shoulder for the sardonic tone, narrowing her eyes. "I told her we couldn't spend time together anymore. And you know her better than me, how do I get rid of her?"

"I don't really think you want to."

"Well, of course not," she responded, annoyed. He looked surprised by her answer. "I didn't go through all this trouble to just meet her and part ways. But she's all grown, has a family and I'm never going to belong there."

"Oh, come on, when have you ever really belonged?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Besides the fact that you're not exactly Miss Popularity? I tried to tell you this before, stop making everything so complicated with her. She's dying to have a mom, and you're dying to be one. You're not going to be some soccer mom, but you are a good mentor. Just try to be that for her, at least."

"And when did you become so full of generous, kind wisdom?"

"Well, I tripped in a puddle back there..." She smirked at Jesse's reply, shaking her head softly. "Are you done being a baby now?"

"Don't _ever_ mention that I cried into your shoulder, to anyone. Or I will castrate you."

"Ouch," he cringed. "I swear."

"Smartass."

"Only for you."

**Author's Note: Too much fluff? I thought so... but I love them. I'm obviously more of an angst writer with the random dry moments of humour injected into the story every so often. xD But the next chapters will be much more drama-ridden, you'll see. How 'bout that review button, eh?**


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